Kingdom Hearts: Dusk's Beginning
by DuskRising
Summary: This is a prelude to the events in FireLuigi08's story Dusk Tales: Fall of the Chasers.
1. Destiny

This is pretty much my first ever fanfiction, so please praise and criticize at your liking. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I myself do not in any way shape or form own any part of the Square Enix Co., or the Kingdom Hearts Franchise. All plot strands and links belong to that of Square Enix, and FireLuigi08. Most characters are of my own creation (if one comes up I will tell you if it belongs to me or not).

**Chapter I**

_Destiny_

A loud crack echoed through the night sky preceded by a bright flash of lightning that illuminated the soon to be battlefield. It was raining. Aftiel waited on the front lines staring across the stark desert valley, sword securely fastened at his side. The men behind and to either side of him, young and old alike breathed nervously, all the while waiting. Just waiting. And for what they didn't know. But whatever it was they were waiting for shook them to the bone.

And then he saw it. A black line manifested on the horizon and soon after the sound of a great many feet marching towards him. "Here they come men, hold your positions." their captain said. Aftiel could feel the men trembling in fear as the line drew ever closer, but still hundreds of yards away.

"Wha- what are those things?"

Aftiel turned head to his side to see a boy no older than thirteen standing to his immediate right. He felt a great deal of sympathy for the youth. The military of his country was notorious for drafting men at young ages. He himself had been forced in three years ago at the age of fourteen, only days after being orphaned from his parents.

"Heartless." He replied indifferently. The boy began to tremble and his eyes grew wide with fear. He also noticed that many of the others gave the same startled reaction to this. Many murmurs of "No one told us we'd be fighting the heartless!" and "We'll never make it out if this alive!" ensued around him. But this was cut off by the captain's call to attention, as the line of heartless drew ever closer.

Aftiel could now see their bright yellow eyes and structure. This species was called Neo-Shadow, an augmented form of the Shadow Heartless. This was the same kind that took his family from him.

His heart began to beat at a more intense rate as adrenaline pumped through his veins. Another crack of lightning lit up the sky. He summoned his sword from its scabbard and held the polished silver blade at his side as others followed suit. Yet another streak of lightning flushed the field with color and the massive congregation of heartless became still.

A loud screech was heard overhead. Aftiel's head darted upwards and he saw at least a dozen Wyvern Heartless, diving like hawks towards the army of men. Screams of pain resounded through the desert as men were picked off at random. Their captain saw this and hurriedly called a charge, but only the first few lines remained. The others had either retreated or been mangled. They began a futile charge toward the thousands upon thousands of heartless.

He began slashing wildly at line after line of the heartless. Their jet-black bodies withering as his blade passed through them. He glanced around to look for the other men of his line only to see them being mauled, their bodies consumed by darkness. Even his own captain was overcome by the heartless. He was the only one left no others remained. Surrounded, he looked franticly around him, trying to find some way of escaping. But he only saw the despair, and imminent death that was the circle of heartless surrounding him. The black creatures began closing in rapidly, their menacing yellow eyes fixed upon him.

Aftiel forced his eyes closed and braced himself. His body surged with pain as he claws ripped and tore through his flesh. "Hmmm, we still have great use for you." He heard a voice say. And then the onslaught stopped, he opened his eyes and was instantly blinded by a bright light that suddenly surrounded him. He fell to his knees and looked around. The valley was once again barren. Aftiel was bleeding badly as his clothes were almost completely drenched in his own blood. The landscape seemed to tip over as he felt consciousness slip through his fingers. Between blinks of his ever-heavy eyelids he could just begin to make out an armored figure in the distance walking towards him. The word 'crossroads' repeatedly sounded in hid mind as he felt the cool drops of rain touch his face.

Aftiel shot up into a sitting position and was instantaneously blinded by the intense sun overhead.

He stood and surveyed his surroundings cautiously. He was standing in what seemed to be a field. The lush green grass swayed in the gentle breeze. Four dirt paths, it seemed, stretched out endlessly from where he was standing.

On the horizon of the path to his back the sun shone brightly as if it basked in what seemed like eternal light. Opposite this, the path to his front lead into an eerie abyss. The darkness looked as if to grow thicker as the path lead on. The paths to his left and right looked to lead into almost identical territory, only except for heavy cloud cover on the path left of him. It was almost like sunset was about to occur where it lead to, contradictory to the way across from it.

A strange force seemed to be pulling Aftiel toward the darkness. He began to move to make his way down the path when he then felt a simultaneous pulling sensation from the light behind him. He stood dead in his tracks, which he had yet to make.

"What's going on here?" he said quietly under his breath.

A loud ringing noise came over his ears. Aftiel's eyes darted around nervously as if looking for the source. It became louder with every passing second. All possible noise was drowned out; he could no longer hear the wind. The ringing finally became so intense Aftiel was brought to his knees, squinting with pain and irritation. Eardrums ready to burst in his head he fell forward unable to even catch the slightest sound of the screams of pain emitting from his mouth. His body began to fill with searing pain. The inaudible screams became louder, and louder still. And then silence, the pain had become to overbearing and he had blacked out.

"Your destiny has been set, Keeper of the Crossroads."

Well, thats it. I'll try to clear things up in the next few chapters or so.

All comments and critisizm are welcome, I can not stress enough how much i need it!


	2. Meetings

Well here you go, chapter two to my story, hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I myself do not in any way shape or form own any part of the Square Enix Co., or the Kingdom Hearts Franchise. All plot strands and links belong to that of Square Enix, and FireLuigi08. Most characters are of my own creation (if one comes up I will tell you if it belongs to me or not).

**Chapter II**

_Meetings_

A voice broke through the darkness, "Hey, kid, you alive? Hey... HEY!"

Aftiel shot up with a start and in the process cracked heads with the person kneeling over him. He was a tall lanky man with thin neck length blonde hair and sky blue eyes.

"Ahh, wow yelling really does solve everything." The man said between spurts of pain and chuckles.

"I guess so." replied Aftiel in a hearty tone. "So how long was I out?" The last thing I remember was waking up at a crossroads and-" He laid back down quickly wincing with pain an clutching his side. The burning sensation from the wound he had suffered during the battle seemed to be spreading through his body.

"Whoa kid, take it easy there. Your pretty banged up from that tussle with those... those... ah... oh whadda-ya-callum..."

"Heartless" Aftiel broke in.

"Ah that's right. Pretty nasty by the look of things. Why they darn wiped you guys out quicker than a rabbit strapped to a rocket I reckon. As for your injuries that few days rest sure did fine work for ya."

"Days!" he blurted out. "I thought at most I'd only been out for a _few _hours at the most... But three days!"

"Yussm, but as for all that about_ crossroads _and suchI don't know what you're talkin' 'bout." he replied indefinitely.

"I must have been hallucinating. But... It must have been real, the pain, the ringing. It's all so clear." He sat up again observing his place of sanction. He lay in the center of what seemed to be a large tent. To his right was a rusty old wood stove that was tarnished black from use. On his right were assorted boxes and trunks. "So where are we, are we anywhere near the city."

"What city kid. Those heartless turned that darned thing to ruble.," the man said with a solemn expression.

"Were there any survivors?"

"Nope, not a one but me kid... and well you."

Aftiel had no reply; he only stared with blank amazement at the ground. His heart was slowly being ripped away by the anguish caused by this occurrence. Everything he loved, everything that he knew was gone... just like that.

"You had family in Spiriah I take it." the man said cautiously.

Aftiel slowly lifted his head. "I have no family. Only friends and acquaintances. But none now."

The man cringed and eager to change the subject said, "So what were you fightn them things for, they shoulda known ya'll didn't stand a chance."

Puzzled and confused Aftiel looked into space trying to remember the reason they had been sent into battle. After all they had usually given some information to the troops before sending them out on missions, especially one as dangerous as this. But he could recall no instance of ever being informed of the reason they were stationed there. "I- I don't know. They never gave us a reason, they only assigned us orders and we followed."

"Well now, ya know what I heard." The man said obviously feeling proud of himself. "I dun-heard that the dark chaser sent those things to wipe out the city. They only thing I don't understand is what a chaser is."

"You must not be from around here." Aftiel said. The man replied with a swift shake of his head. "Chasers are the, so called, protectors of this world. They hold most of the influential power. There are two of them: Osoroku who reigns over the realm of darkness, and Syn who reigns in the realm of light. Judging from what you said, I'd say they're in some kind of a power struggle of some kind. Legends have it they never really got along to well, but of course brothers never do." _So that's who that must have been walking towards me after the battle, he thought to himself._

"But what gives them the authority to-"

"The keyblades." Aftiel interrupted him swiftly.

The man looked across at him with a look of shear disbelief. "You mean they're the ones who… but do they really… I thought they were just legend."

"They're as real as you and me pal. Powerful too. The thing could cut my blade clean in two with one swipe." He reached down to his side to unsheathe his blade but to his surprise it was missing. "Any way, what else have you heard about the attack. I'm interested to hear what's been going around."

"Well now, lets see… hmm. Oh! That Osor… Ozer… whatever his name is was said to be looking for some book er something." He scratched his head obviously trying to remember the details of what he had heard. "Oh well, I don't remember it _sounding_ too important."

Slowly Aftiel rose to his feet. "No matter. Well, I'm feeling much better now. I believe I can manage my way back to… Damn." He hung his head and started out into the open. He found his sheathed sword laying outside along with his other armaments. He picked admiring the craftsmanship of which they had been made: particularly the sword. The guard and pommel were black steel encrusted with rubies. He pulled the sword out of the sheath and to his great surprise only half of the blade came out. Very confused he tilted the scabbard upside down and the other half fell to the ground with a clang. "Damnit, now that's less than helpful." He muttered to himself. The man, who had followed Aftiel from the innards of the tent, let out a slight chuckle at this remark but quickly composed himself as soon as Aftiel glanced around behind to face him.

"Oh pardon me for asking sir but I never seem to have gotten your name." The man asked.

"And?" Aftiel replied

"What is it?" He said all too clearly.

"Depends on who's asking." Aftiel replied curiously.

"Ha, Torrun K. Athyrea and proud to be it." He said with an almost comical grin on his face, eyes bright.

"Aftiel" Aftiel said shortly.

"What that's it. What about a last name, middle name, surname, nickname, anything?" Torrun said almost confused. Apparently to him your name was everything, and by the looks of what he owned it was the only thing he had to his name, oddly enough.

"Nope… just Aftiel."

"Well then, all-n-all its nice ta meet ya Aftiel." Torren said brightly

They both started down to the pile of rubble where the city Spyria once stood.

As always thanks for reading and please review, as you can tell I need it.


	3. Darkness

Well here you go Chapter three, not much else to say.

Disclaimer: I myself do not in any way shape or form own any part of the Square Enix Co., or the Kingdom Hearts Franchise. All plot strands and links belong to that of Square Enix, and FireLuigi08. Most characters are of my own creation (if one comes up I will tell you if it belongs to me or not).

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**Chapter III**

_Darkness _

The walk down the ruins of Spyria was a long and drawn out one. Between the impediments of Afitel's wounded side to Torren's constant rambling on about everything from, his family in distant cities which Afitel had been sure he had never seen on any map what so ever to things like how to pitch a tent properly, the walk had taken much longer than he had expected. Torren had obviously carried Aftiel a very long distance away from where he had fallen in the battle. It seemed as if he had taken him to the far side of the valley, away from the destruction. For this he was grateful, for the company of Torren he was not. For now he only seemed as if to be a pain on the ears and something to fill the sound-deprived void that was the space between them. But comforting Aftiel was the large sword and rapier he carried with him. Although worn with dents and scuffs the dark silver blades looked as if battle worn.

_Well I can either assume that he stole them, or he has experience in battle,_ Aftiel thought to himself. _Maybe he can be of some use until I heal completely. _As they reached the center of the valley where the battle had occurred dead bodies of soldiers began to look more common. Their fatigues ripped to shreds on the bloodied bodies of his fellow soldiers. The rank scent of rotting flesh tore through his nostrils and burned his eyes like the dry black smoke from a fire. His eyes watered furiously.

"Here, take this." He heard Torren say from the back of him. Torren was standing with his arm stretched out and motioning for Aftiel to take what looked like a black handkerchief. "It'll dull the smell a good bit."

"Thank you." He replied indifferently and continued on across the valley.

"So why did the heartless leave them bodies here." Torren said anxiously.

"I don't quite know." Aftiel said with a tone of sudden surprise. "Usually they absorb the hearts of the people they kill. They must have been in some kind of hurry to leave them untouched… sort of."

"But then why would they take the time to destroy the city."

"I'm not entirely sure… unless… no they couldn't be… my God." Aftiel's eyes widened with the realization of what they were trying to get at. He sprinted wildly towards the pile of rubble in front of him ignoring the burning pain rushing through his body.

He dashed towards the center of where the city once stood. Tripping over large pieces of stone he finally reached where the state building once stood. He dropped to his knees and began to heave pieces of rock aside.

"What in the heck are you doing with that?!" Torren said breathlessly from chasing after Aftiel.

"Its here, it has to be here! They couldn't have gotten it! They couldn't have!" He was speaking frantically and digging ever deeper in vain, it seemed.

"Now hold on just a dag-gon minute here." He pulled Aftiel away from the hole he had dug in his wild episode. "Just what in the name of Sam Hill are you diggin for."

"The book, The Script of Twilight. I- I was supposed to… to keep it safe." His head sunk into his chest with despair.

"So you mean that it was sorta your job then?" Torren said with a spark of curiosity in his voice.

Aftiel still faced the ground in shame. "After my parents died the embassy took it upon themselves to have me guard the tower where the Script was kept." He turned himself over and sat atop the rubble where the tower once stood. "It was more like a punishment than the privilege they made it out to be."

"Well now that just sounds-" Torren was cut off by the sight of a rift tearing through the space about ten feet in front of him.

A man clad in layered black armor stepped from the darkness that embodied the portal. The shades of the armor ranged from pitch black to an ominously dark gray that were arranged in order with the layering of the plates. His gauntlets had spiked prongs emanating from his forearm, which were almost identical in size with his fingers. A flowing red cape was clasped to his breastplate what was adorned with a symbol Aftiel did not recognize. The emblem was also etched in black on the cape now hanging lifeless at his back. The man's face was a pale white color, his hair fell in his face hiding the right side from view. The eye that was visible was a bright red matching his cape. He wore two silver earrings, one on each ear, which were crafted to precision into the same symbol on his breastplate. Oddly enough he was unarmed, not even a small dagger was to be found on his person, dressed as he was.

"Then you'll be glad we took it from you." Aftiel was chilled to the bone by the man's eerie tone of voice. "But don't you worry, it is in… capable hands now. After all, the dark chaser has big plans for this world of yours.

"And now what may I ask would that there be." Torren spat back defensively.

The man closed his eyes and a smirk appeared on his face. "I didn't come here to address you, commoner. So if you would kindly leave me to my business-"

"Not a dog gone chance I'm leav'n."

"Fine then." The man stretched his arm forward and darkness began to flow around it as if to consume him. A mass of it consumed in his hand and began to take the shape of a blade. Its handle was a deep crimson and was wrapped in black cloth for grip. The pommel was shaped in the form of a twisting design carved in silver. The pitch-black blade rose up from the hilt and was emblazoned with runes that Aftiel knew as Darkness' Reprieve. The one edge that was sharpened was ivory white and edged with craftsmanship even the greatest smiths of his time could not match.

The man pointed his blade at Torren's chest and Torren's face was immediately taken over by fear. "Forgive me, I usually don't kill without introducing myself."

"We- well that's aw- awful nice of ya." Torren said shaking with shear terror.

"You shall know me as Zekiel, commoner." And with that he lunged forward and embedded his blade in Torren's chest. His head lurched forward and blood began to pour from his mouth his muscles began to seize up and he fell dead on the pile of rubble upon Zikiel removing the sword from his body. Aftiel watched in horror anticipating his own death next.

"So now where were we?" Zekiel said calmly.

"How could you do that to him?" Aftiel said in shock. "How could you kill him? He- he never did anything towards you."

"Oh, but you are mistaken, Guardian." Zekiel snapped back.

"What did you call me?" Aftiel replied slightly confused.

Zekiel began to laugh loudly and became enraged. Blind fury showed in his eyes more intense as the moments passed.

"THAT WAS MY POSITION AND MINE ALONE! DO YOU HEAR THAT SYN! I DEFY YOU! YOU CANNOT REVOKE MY DESTINY!" Zekiel sprinted towards Aftiel blade at the ready. He stabbed towards Aftiel's throat, but missed and hit solid rock as he rolled to the side out of the way of danger. Zekiel again stabbed with the same result. Aftiel stood up and placed his hand on the hilt of his sheathed sword. Zekiel ran wildly towards him "I'LL KILL YOU." He slashed horizontally at Aftiel's head but missed as a result of Aftiel ducking out of the way. Aftiel then ripped the broken sword out of his scabbard and thrust the scabbard against Zekiel's chest. He then slowly brought it away to reveal the rest of the blade sticking out of his adversary. Zekiel stumbled back with surprise strewn across his face and fell to his knees dropping his black blade at his side.

"Well, that's a first." He said calmly. The look of surprise turned into a slight smile and he pulled the blade from his chest. "Another time then, Guardian." Slowly Zekiel rose to his feet and opened another rift. He walked through without even glancing back and was consumed by the darkness. Aftiel walked forward to follow him through but it was closed off before he could reach it.

After burying Torren among the ruins of Spyria he crafted a makeshift grave marker out of Torren's broadsword and rapier. Before continuing on he picked up the blade, Darkness' Reprieve and clasped it to his belt. He then began trekking towards the nearest town, Kirran, with the sun high overhead and the wind urging him on to his destination.

-during these goings on-

Zekiel walked through the portal into a large dimly lit room. Torches producing black flames were set around the circumference of the room. A man clad from head to toe in black armor sat atop a large throne, his keyblade neatly placed beside him. Zekiel kneeled in front of the figure. "I have returned Sire." Zekiel said formally.

A deep voice replied to him "And, what news have you brought me, Zekiel. Have you reclaimed your status?"

"No… your Excellency, but do not fear I will in time." Zekiel said hesitantly.

"That time had better be soon, Zekiel, or I will have to take matters into my own hands." The figure stood from his elegant seat. "I must converse with Syn. You may leave."

"Does he know of our goings on here, Sire?" Zekiel said fearfully.

"No, and he will not as long as you keep your doings as covert as possible. Now leave me to my business." The figure motioned for him to leave and Zekiel followed his orders.

"Thank you, Lord Osoroku."

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As always hope that you liked it and all comments and criticism are welcome.


	4. Initiation

**Chapter IV**

_Initiation_

Fate found Aftiel yet again in the vicinity of the crossroads. The desolate landscape encircled him as last time he was here. He carefully surveyed his surroundings making sure that nothing had changed from his previous venture here. He checked his ears to make sure nothing was going to make him pass out under extreme pain again and let out a deep sigh of relief. W_onder what I'm doing here again. Oh well I'll just sit and wait for something to happen I guess. _He sat where he stood and looked around one last time to make sure his surroundings were free of anything and let out a sigh of relief and anxiety. _Well, looks like I'm definitely waiting this one out then. I hope this doesn't take long._ He let his weight fall back to place him in a lying down position on the ground and hit his head hard off of a clearly metal object behind him. "Aaaaah! What the…" He stopped and looked behind him at the object sticking from the ground. "Huh… this wasn't here earlier." He stood up and sized up the metal thing sticking up out of the ground. It came roughly up to the middle of his stomach. It looked like a sword but its handle was completely enclosed in its hand guard like a dual guarded rapier. The blade in this sense was also irregular as it had much more detail and design than the common long-sword forged into it. Patters of curving lines emblazoned the foreign metal entrancing Aftiel for a moment.

He reached down to free the mysterious weapon slowly as if it would burn him on contact with his hand. His hand neared and his heart began to beat ever quicker in his chest. Mere inches away and he could feel an immense power radiating from the blade. The pulse flowed through the air and brought about a powerful tingling sensation flow through his hand and up his arm to his shoulder. It _must_ be his.

A voice erupted through the sky. "_Ah, ah, ah. Tsk tsk, you know better than to try and take things that don't belong to you."_

"Hey, what the heck am I doing here, and what do you mean doesn't belong to me."

"_Ah, I see that Osoroku has neglected his duties once again. Do not worry you will soon be able to wield this power… and even far greater power. As soon as you… well I won't get into that now."_

"Ya, cause your making absolute perfect sense." Aftiel replied in an unusually sarcastic manner.

"In time. But you should already know of the weapon lying in front of you. It seems to appear quite often in the lore of your peoples."

Aftiel racked his brain for the answer, and one word came to mind… Keyblade. The word rang out in his head over and over. This was the legendary weapon of lore, ripe for the picking. He reached down for the keyblade once again eyes wide in wonderment.

"_You don't seem to catch on that quickly do you." _At this Aftiel was immediately repelled a short distance from where he was standing. The force of the push threw him hard on the ground and he proceeded to slide a few feet from his original site of impact. Briefly, he lay motionless on the ground in shock of what had just happened. Aftiel then slowly hoisted himself off the ground only to find a figure in pale white armor standing between him and the keyblade embedded into the earth. A thick black visor covered his face and two elegantly crafted fins rose from the temples of his helmet, which encased his entire head. The ivory plating of the armor reflected the light of the sun far overhead. "_Had enough yet young one." _The figure affirmed in a humorous tone. "_By the look on your face it seems you don't quite understand what I am speaking of." _Aftiel quickly realized that his face seemed to have been plastered with a look of sheer stupidity and ignorance. _"Well then I might as well tell you now." _The figure swiftly turned around and released the Keyblade from its holding place. At the end of the lean silver blade jutted a perpendicular three-pronged crown design, which looked to be gold plated. _"This particular Key_ _belongs to me. Osoroku has his own, as did the former guardian of the crossroads. Along with we, the select few, other worthy candidates have also been granted Keyblades, of lesser power of course." _At this he raised his Keyblade to Aftiel who stood firm in his position, staring intently at the stranger. _"You… you must find the power you seek alone._" The stranger then motioned for Aftiel to look behind and as he followed the stranger's directions his eyes met what was a wide field of metal… of Keyblades. _"This is your burden to bear, Guardian of the Crossroads."_ Aftiel began to fall into the darkness.

_-----_

A cold sweat and hard breathing woke Aftiel from his sleep. He stared into the darkness surrounding him. There was no sand, no sun, no armored stranger, no legendary weapons, nothing but the darkness of the inn room. All a dream, but real enough to have happened. He estimated the time to be well after midnight, as he could no longer see the moon from his window. He turned his head to the far wall to verify his newly won weapon was occupying its correct spot and, comforted, fell back into unconsciousness.

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After seeing the inn owner the next morning and paying for his room Aftiel quickly departed from the inn. An ominous feeling swept over him as he left and he quietly promised himself he would not return. Thinking of the dram and leaving Kirran, he walked briskly to a small neighboring town of no name. It was picturesque, small houses dotted the rolling landscape and a few of them produced billowing smoke from their chimneys. He located a garment shop in the towns square and purchased new clothes. After all his army fatigues had become torn and tattered in battle. He substituted these for a black jacket with a crimson red lining and high collar, which he folded over to rest on his shoulders, and dark gray cargo pants. His fatigues were left at the store to be reconditioned and resold, an idea Aftiel enjoyed as it granted him a discount on his newly bought attire.

He fixed and straightened his messy, ear-length, dark hair and clasped his blade to his belt. Ambling around the small town he noticed that not too many people were about, most people probably commuted to Kirran to work in the factories and smithies. He looked over his shoulder to acknowledge the town behind him. A large black cloud was approaching from where he had come. _No… it can't be. _He thought to himself. Aftiel stood in shock, hand on his sword.


	5. Into The Darkness

At this point the story begins to get a little darker and more interesting. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter V**

_Into The Darkness_

The black cloud slowly drew closer overhead as Aftiel stood in awe. He ran to the square of the town for a more enhanced view of the tar colored mass. In only a few minutes the cloud encompassed the entire visible sky, and the daylight drifted from existence and blackness apprehended the space left behind. His trail of vision drifted from the black mass to the road leading to the town square, which began to be plastered and darkened further with falling rain.

Aftiel felt a cold wind blow from the path and shivered as the ice cold rain began to come in contact with his face. A strange sensation radiated from the path and, like a blanket, soon encircled him.

Withdrawing the black blade from its sheath, Aftiel began to look about nervously as if someone- or something- was going to jump out from the shadows and frighten him. The sound of rushing wind sounded behind him and Aftiel rapidly about-faced to meet a familiar armored figure stepping out from the darkness.

"Hello again Aftiel." The icy voice chilled him to the bone as it had done before.

"Zekiel." Aftiel replied coldly. Aftiel raised his sword to the throat of Zekiel's armor. At this he removed his ebony helmet from his head.

"Ah, out for vengeance are we now?" To this Aftiel did not reply. "Want to play the hero do you?" Again Aftiel did not respond he only stood like a pillar wedged into the ground.

"You have no right to talk to me like that. If you even try to come at me like last time… I _will_ strike you down." His words hit Zekiel with surprise, he could tell for the sneer expression on his face had vanished.

"We'll see." Zekiel shot back. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers. A black ring appeared on the ground and began to warp and shape itself into small figures. Heartless-Aftiel quickly counted 20- rose from the pitch black and stood waiting for command.

Aftiel forced a chuckle. "I see. I see how you operate. You're nothing but a coward, I expected more from you."

Zekiel's expression became darker at this comment; he quickly snapped his fingers again and the heartless began to shudder. Light emanated from the heartless and in less than a second they became large metal spear-tipped posts to form a gate-like structure. "As if." Zekiel then lifted his head to they sky and broke into manic laughter.

For a few minutes he only stood there laughing, and then almost as if he fell unconscious his head and shoulders slumped forward and the laughing ceased. A black aura appeared around him and his limbs began to shudder, his hands twitched wildly. Slowly his head lifted to face Aftiel. His eyes had turned black as night and black streaks almost like tears ran down the sides of his face.

One arm shot to his side now perpendicular to his body, the aura crawled across his arm and into his hand. An elegantly crafted object faded into view. The blade was fiery red and the hand guard, which enclosed the handle, was a dull gray. A bat's wing extended at a ninety-degree angle from the tip. Aftiel stepped back at this, again as last time he feared for his life.

"How did you get a-a Keyblade?" The former soldier stood stunned, trying to comprehend what had just occurred.

Zekiel began laughing again more maniacally than before, he started toward Aftiel, who at this point was paralyzed with fear. At the point of reaching him Zekiel caught Aftiel by the throat and lifted him above his head. The freezing cold touch caused him to gasp from shock. Zekiel positioned his keyblade precisely at Aftiel's throat. "Ah ha ha… now really, I expected more from _you, _you insolent BRAT! Oh I'm sorry what I meant to address you as was Sir, Guardian." The crazed smile on Zekiel's face grew wider as time passed. "Thought you could get away with stealing my title… DID YOU!" Aftiel felt the razor sharp edge press against his neck; he cringed as he felt the warmth of his own blood run down his neck and onto his chest. "Oh, I am going to enjoy this!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Aftiel braced his weight on Zekiel's arm and thrust his heavy, steel-toed boots into Zekiel's face. As the grip loosened on his neck he pushed off hard and landed on the ground a few feet away. The sound of metal clanking on hard ground told Aftiel that his adversary had also fallen. Rearing himself up, sword in hand, he put pressure on his wounded neck, which at this point was bleeding profusely.

The armored adversary rose from where he lay and held his obviously broken jaw in one hand. "We'll… meet again… Guardian." He said between grunts of pain and sputters of blood. He turned about face and opened a portal to darkness with his Keyblade and started to walk through.

Aftiel simultaneously broke off one of the spear-like fence poles. "You're not getting away from me again." Swiftly, he ran the makeshift spear into Zekiel's back between his shoulder blades. A scream of pain echoed through the small arena and Zekiel fell to the ground once more. The portal quickly shut itself and reappeared under the fallen Zekiel. Tendrils began to sprout from the blackness and pull him into the darkness. Aftiel, against his better judgment followed.


End file.
